Lenses for older Copal-No.3 shutter

[dustspots]

I recently acquired an older Copal-No.3 shutter and wonder if anyone here could suggest any lenses suitable for portraits that would fit it. Thank you.

[IanG]

Someone is/was selling 240mm Nikon cells here, great for portraits.

Ian

[dustspots]

Thank you for the reply Ian... I'll try searching for the post.

[karl french]

If it's the old "colorful" copal 3 those cells won't fit. The oldest Copal 3 shutters have the same dimensions as the newer 3S.

[IanG]

I'd suggest you check the thread sizes Karl's right there are variations. I can't find where I saw the 240mm cells but remember posting they fit a Copal 3 as I had mine in front of me at the time.

Ian

[karl french]

Those Nikkor W 240mm cells will fit a regular newish Copal 3, not the 3S or the older colorful Copal 3 (which I love with red, yellow and blue. So cheerful.)

[koh303]

I have some Fuji 250mm SF which will fit as well as some very beatup Chinese made 210mm F4.5 tessar style lens. Let me know if you are interested, small money.

[StoneNYC]

This really depends what format you're shooting, no one seems to be asking what your size is...?

4x5, 5x7, 8x10, 11x14? 20x24? Let us know that.

[Old-N-Feeble]

Also, what type of portraits... what style/effect are you looking for? Full-length, head-and-shoulders, face only?

[dustspots]

Thank you for your helpful replies everyone! It's much appreciated!

IanG It's a shame the 240mm Nikkor cells won't fit, I've heard it's quite a good lens!

karl french Yes it is the older colorful Copal 3 and I agree I love the look of it too! In fact can't wait to use it!

Koh303 Thanks for the offer, but I'm not looking for a soft focus lens at the moment.

StoneNYC I mostly use 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10... so a lens that could be used across two or three of these formats would be great.

Old-N-Feeble I generally like to shoot head-and-shoulders, and very rarely face only. I'm looking for a reasonably sharp lens, but one that is not too harsh or contrasty.

Thanks again!

[Old-N-Feeble]

What is your minimum and maximum working distance, lens-to-subject?

[dustspots]

What is your minimum and maximum working distance, lens-to-subject?

5ft to 12ft.

[Old-N-Feeble]

For small and medium format my rule-of-thumb for head-and-shoulders portraits is 2-3x normal focal length and 3-4x for full-face. Twelve feet is barely enough distance for the shorter of those focal lengths. Large format is a bit different but only due to practicality. In that work space I would probably just use double normal FL for any format... 300mm for 4x5, 450mm for 5x7, 600mm for 8x10. Normal FL for full-length portraits... 150mm for 4x5, 210mm for 5x7, 300mm for 8x10.

This is only my opinion... you'll read many differing opinions.

[Old-N-Feeble]

My Chamonix 45N has 400mm extension plus another 150mm with the extension rail, plus another 100mm with a top hat board. That's 650mm total extension. A 300mm lens can easily be used at portrait distances... even without the top hat board. There are plenty of 4x5, 5x7 and 8x10 cameras with enough extension to use lenses of appropriate FL for portraits. Of course if one prefers a little perspective distortion then shorter lenses are a better choice for them.

[karl french]

240-300-360mm is the sweet spot for portrait lenses on 8x10 in my mind.

[BrianShaw]

180-250-300mm is the sweet spot for portrait lenses on 4x5 in my mind.

... and for 5x4, the sweet spot is 12, 10, and 7-1/4 inch.

One of my assumptions is a monorail camera with a long(ish) rail.